SEVERAL children of Coptic Christians were injured and nearly two dozen minors detained by the police when Egyptian security forces opened fire on a group that protested authorities’ decision to halt the construction of a church on Dec 9.
International Christian Concern (ICC), an advocacy group, quoted Mona Farous an activist as saying that as many as 38 children have been treated in hospital while 20 others were put behind bars following skirmishes in a suburb in Cairo on Nov 24.
The children were among 150 Copts arrested following the protests that saw the death of four Copts including a four-year-old child due to suffocation following tear gas.
According to Egypt’s official news agency MENA, the attorney general decided to hold 156 protestors ‘on suspicion of inciting riots’ for 15 days. However, ICC put the number of detained as 168.
